On Thursday 5 December, the new Commissioner for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius, outlined to the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence the ‘White Paper’ on defence that he is to present within the first 100 days of his term.
He says that this ‘White Paper’ will first and foremost highlight the threats facing the EU. And according to the Commissioner, the main threat - the emergency - is Russia. The Commissioner added that in the longer term, we would also need to respond to China’s growing power, which could divert American attention away from Europe.
Several MEPs, notably from France, felt that the threats facing the EU were broader than Russia, citing Iran, China and terrorism.
According to Mr Kubilius, the EU needs to move away from incrementalism towards a ‘big bang’ approach. “We need to look at what the EU can do to be ready to meet the challenges, without claiming to compete with NATO’s defence plan. This is a basis on which we can understand what needs to be done, help Member States develop their resources, raise funds, add legal language”, he clarified.
The Commissioner explained that the ‘White Paper’ would consist of three main chapters, representing the areas on which efforts should be focused: Ukraine, European capabilities and defence funding.
Regarding Ukraine, Mr Kubilius called on the Member States to do more. “We need to at least try to have very clear plans, with clarity on what can be provided financially to Ukraine, and focus not only on military assistance, but also on how we can be stronger in the narrative war”, he said. According to him, Europe’s military support for Ukraine amounts to less than 0.1% of its GDP (€14 billion a year when the GDP is €18,000 billion).
With regard to Europe’s capabilities, the Commissioner called for an ‘industrial production plan’. We need to make joint purchases, aggregated requests, to enable the industry to have long-term planning and contracts, which will help it speed up production, he explained.
Finally, Mr Kubilius hoped that the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) would provide more funding for defence, while he pointed out that the MFF would not be in place until 2028 and that funding would have to be found before then.
As NATO members consider raising their defence spending thresholds, Mr Kubilius explained that 1% of the EU’s GDP amounted to €200 billion in additional funds.
Asked about the possibility of defence bonds, Mr Kubilius said that the money borrowed could be repaid through national defence spending. “If we give 0.1% (of GDP) to repay the debt, that would be €20 billion”, he explained. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)